Blues 'climbed back into' series with dominant win against Jets in Game 3

ST. LOUIS -- Coming home after losing the first two games on the road, the St. Louis Blues needed a big response in their Western Conference First Round series against the Winnipeg Jets.

Boy, did they get one.

“It's what we needed,” Blues center Robert Thomas said after their dominant 7-2 win against the Jets in Game 3 at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

“It's a long series, we climbed back into it and good game tonight. We got to focus on Sunday and making sure we're prepared and coming out the same way.”

The Jets lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 entering Game 4 here on Sunday (1 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).

It seemed to be a big night for everyone in a Blues uniform. Thomas had four assists. Forward Pavel Buchnevich scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff hat trick and had an assist, and Cam Fowler had five points (one goal, four assists), the most by a Blues defenseman in a playoff game in their history.

“It was more about just the group, I think, getting off to a good start in front of our fans and using our momentum to our advantage. That’s part of playoff hockey,” Fowler said of helping the Blues jump out to a 3-0 lead with a goal and two assists in the first period.

“Winnipeg was a difficult place to go in and play with their fans. We wanted this to feel the same, and our fans showed up and made it loud and supported us all night and just like they have all season. We used that to our advantage and came out with a really good start and it helped us establish some momentum in the hockey game.”

The Blues pretty much had all the momentum on Thursday. Obviously, it started with, well, their start. At the end of the first period, they led 3-0 with 15 shots on goal. That’s compared to Game 1, when they finished with 17 shots in 60 minutes.

They had even-strength scoring and three more power-play goals to go along with the physical game they’ve played throughout the series. They kept Jets top-line center Mark Scheifele (two goals, three assists through two games) and left wing Kyle Connor, who scored the game-winner in each of the first two games, off the score sheet.

Oh, and the Blues also had plenty of finish. After not scoring a goal in the third period of either of the opening two games of the series, they scored four in the third on Thursday.

“I just thought that the attitude we had, we started the other two games really well, and what I liked was the fierce, competitive nature in our attitude for 60 minutes (on Thursday),” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “The start was incredible. We were aggressive, we did the things we wanted to do to make sure that we were going to get more scoring chances, and we did get more scoring chances.”

The Jets were without defenseman Dylan DeMelo, who was out due to an illness. His presence was certainly missed; he averaged 20:21 of ice time in the first two playoff games. But it was a tough night for the Jets regardless of who was in the lineup. Their starts in Games 1 and 2 were so-so but they overcame them. On Thursday, their start proved way too slow and way too tough to overcome.

“I think starting better is definitely an emphasis for us here going forward in the series, but I think we didn't execute in the first period and especially the first 10 minutes,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said.

“They’re going to come hard, that's their M.O. They're aggressive on the forecheck and they play an aggressive game, so that's where we have to do a better job of executing with the puck to move it past that aggressiveness that we didn't handle well in that first period.”

The Blues played solid hockey in Winnipeg but left Canada with nothing to show for it. They played dominant hockey on Thursday and are right back in the series. It would stand to reason that the Blues have swung the momentum in their favor and set a great tone heading into Game 4. They don’t necessarily see it that way, but it should certainly give them more confidence.

“I think every game has its own momentum and its own feel to it. All it is is Game 3 in our mind. We came out, had a great first period. That helped us get back in the series and helped us win the hockey game tonight. But when that puck drops on Sunday, none of that matters,” Fowler said.

“It’s about the preparation between now and then and getting ready for a huge game on Sunday. It’s nice to play on home ice in front of our fans. We’ve really worked hard to have that opportunity and we made the most of it tonight.”